Send Us Your Podcast Questions!

Glad you like the question, I'll be sure to repost it the next time you ask for questions! 😃

ClankStarr

Great question! I've saved it for next month's podcast!

Resonant Arc

This is a great question! I'll definitely include it on the next month's podcast!

Resonant Arc

What is a game (or games) that has received praise from people who's opinions you respect or usually agree with that you've found yourself completely unable to enjoy? This happened to me recently with Horizon Zero Dawn.

Straith

Picking up off of the last Patreon Exclusive Podcast and your discussion about Final Fantasy not being able to satisfy its entire fan base because of its lack of identity I realized perhaps it's time for a brand split. Obviously Square Enix has no interest in letting go of the Final Fantasy moniker for financial reasons. So what if they split the series into Final Fantasy: Crystal and Final Fantasy: Genesis, with Crystal adhering more closely to the classic games and Genesis being more akin to the newer more action oriented games. Would this satisfy the fans? Could it work business wise for Square Enix? I'm curious what you think because it seems to me the panacea for Final Fantasy's multiple personality disorder.

This is a really great topic! We weren't able to get to it this time, but we will for sure revisit this question next time! Thank you for writing this up!

Resonant Arc

This is a super interesting topic! I can totally see what you mean by how playing additional content without the interval of time that first adopters had could completely change how it lands. We weren't able to get to this one on this podcast, but I will include it next time for sure!

Resonant Arc

This is an amazing question, and I feel bad that we weren't able to get to in this month's podcast. We will visit this topic next time for sure!

Resonant Arc

I’ve been fascinated with this concept for storytelling media in general. A while back I posited reviewing games and giving them two separate scores: one score that takes into account technological achievement, influence and importance on its respective medium, and the other score being what you would give it if the product came out today as is. Obviously it’s hard to fully separate these things, but I think that’s the closest you could get to trying to separate quality by today’s standards and influence at the time/nostalgia.

How should we evaluate the quality of older games in an objective way that is not tied to nostalgia or by qualifying their greatness as "for their day"? I ask because my favorite console of all time is the PS1, which is a subjective statement, and for years I've said that I think that the PS1 is also *best* console of all time, which is an objective statement. I've recently gone on a PS1 gaming spree, having replayed Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Symphony of the Night, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, and Soul Reaver in the last few months. Every single one of those games is an absolute masterpiece in my opinion, but that opinion is based mostly on my appreciation for the ground that these games broke while they were commercially relevant. Would it be true to say that even the best PS1 games have been surpassed by most run-of-the-mill modern games in almost every regard, such as graphics, performance, input responsiveness, quality of life features, voice acting, controls, and so on? If so, can it still be said that the PS1 (or SNES, Genesis, etc) is still great or the best outside of personal nostalgia or historical significance?

ClankStarr

In previous podcasts, Casen mentioned how executives who greenlight projects are often drawn by things like visuals since they believe it's what sells (hope I'm not misrepresenting what he said). I feel like this may come at the cost of things like story since higher production value makes iterating on ideas more expensive - not saying you can't have both, but there does seem to be a tradeoff. Do you think under our capitalist system, we can have games where the story and ideas come first, and the superficial stuff later, or would such games not be greenlit? I certainly think yes, just maybe not AAA games, given that we've seen games like Octopath Traveler and stuff from Tokyo RPG Factory. Maybe those games didn't have the best stories, but that seems more like missed opportunities. Maybe a better example is Radiant Historia. I couldn't find budget figures for it, but I can't imagine it being that high, even though it's one of the best games I've ever played. Anyway, my question is: do you think there is a huge missed financial opportunity here for lower budget RPGs with the emphasis on story, or do you think the market for that too niche?

And another quick one: Favorite genre mash up stories. Examples: Firefly (space western). Logan (Superhero Western.) Ant Man (superhero/heist). Alien (sci-fi/horror).

What are movies/stories that you know are hugely influential/important to their respective mediums, but that never clicked with you? Example for me: Superman the Movie. Basically every superhero origin story still uses this films template, but I just never clicked with the film. I've also found that when I do watch some lauded movie or story, it's sometimes hard to appreciate how revolutionary it is because the techniques it created we've grown up taking for granted because they've been utilized in other media so often.

I think I'd want to rewatch the trilogy again before answering (been a few years). Maybe I'll do that this weekend!

Resonant Arc

I've hired an editor and she will begin her work in a couple of weeks. Her first pass should be done by the end of April. From there, hopefully, the manuscript will be in a place where it's ready to be published. My hope is that the book will be released close to the end of the year.

Resonant Arc

I have not, but it looks great! For these podcasts, I'd prefer that at least one of us (either Casen or I) has played the game before. I think that's best for good analysis along the way (knowing how things will be paid off, etc.) Hopefully I'll get around to playing Alundra some time soon!

Resonant Arc

Have you ever played Alundra? Would you consider adding it to a voting poll to be covered on the podcast? I think it would blow your minds!

Novel update now the manuscript is complete? Perfectly understandable if you want to keep that under wraps for now though.

1-what do you think of project triangle strategy demo? 2-Mike did you played tactics ogre for the psp? and i want to ask about what is better for you guys patreon or other platform to support you?

FFXIIKD

Hey guys love your work Just had a quick question , i randomly remembered Mike talking about The War of the Plant of the Apes and how good it is I recently watched the trilogy and i agree that it is an excellent trilogy, although i cant put my finger on why ? I was wondering what insight u guys have or what your experiences were with this trilogy and what makes a great trilogy For me star wars ep4 to 6 and mistborn era 1 r great examples to me Thanks guys

Legendary Masamune

How do you approach managing the games that you are playing? Do you try to finish games even if the joy of playing them has fizzled out, or do you find it easy to put things down as soon as they lose interest to you? I ask this because I increasingly see online the idea of people being weighed down by their backlogs and feeling guilty about not finishing or never playing games due to losing interest - which I think is antethetical to the point of this being a hobby to enjoy. It's probably a different scenario for you since you play games for Resonant Arc sometimes and not purely enjoyment.