It was a messy year here at Menu Combat, it means a lot that you all listened this year despte that. Special thanks for @ziaddd.bsky.social for ushering this seasons most listened to episode. Heres to another year of JRPG conversations! Tell me your fave moment this year

What is the best #JRPG puzzle dungeon/ design since 2010?

New episode of Menu Combat today . I have @jaymuhammad.bsky.social on to do a trailer breakdown of #FireEmblemFortunesWeave . I guarantee you it's the only podcast where you hear release date speculation that considers GTA's impact on Fire Emblem. open.spotify.com/episode/5IFt...

Which game developer has stayed with their IP the longest Hint, hint it involves a jrpg .

Part of what @jaymuhammad.bsky.social was trying to share with me is that in playing #RPG games I need to embrace the help that items give, cause that’s what you do as the main character. Help others.

Do you consider a weapon an item in a RPG? @jaymuhammad.bsky.social discuss if the general permanence of weapons are enough for them a different category of thing than “item”

New episode of Menu Combat out today. We got on @jaymuhammad.bsky.social on this week to do a more thorough talk on items in JRPGs! open.spotify.com/episode/0YEH...

I took a listen to the #Persona5ThePhantomX OST, and clearly they just decided to run it back turbo with Lyn. Fatal Desire is HEAT.

What does it mean to play in the spirit of the game? Sometimes I feel if I use too many items in an rpg I am cheating the expected experience and solution of a player. #Talesof and #Persona are games where I don’t feel that. But for other #JRPG games, I feel like I am betraying the game designers

What has been your fave episode from this season so far?

The design of the Shadow Yukiko boss in #Persona4Golden truly encapsulates the issues she is facing. It’s so well designed!

On this week’s episode of Menu Combat I recount my time with Yukiko’s dungeon in #Persona4Golden . In addition, I talk about what it means to play within the spirit of a videogame. open.spotify.com/episode/5gJb...

I wonder how Persona 6 will use technology to investigate its themes. #Persona4 used TV’s relationship with public truth in late the 2000s and #Persona5 used an anonymous online presence disrupting power in the mid 2010s.

Seeing Shadow Yosuke and Shadow Chie claim to be the true self, got me reflecting on my therapy sessions. I am excited to continue to connect the #Persona4Golden shadows to lessons from my therapy sessions.

#Persona4Golden has an omniscient narrator who tries to suggest how to feel and act, and coming from #Persona5Royal I find that a little odd. Is that something you think helps you feel the emotions of the player character more?

New Episode of Menu Combat this week I talk about the opening hours of Persona 4 Golden and how sometimes expectations affect the way I consume or think about a game. I end with debating the merits of the Shadow World & Pursuing My True Self openings.? spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/oSihagAzCUb

You can guess we would take even more Fire Emblem fighters in Smash Bros.

With Sephiroth vanquished in #FinalFantasyVII we say goodbye to the unholy math equations

One thing @ziaddd.bsky.social and I agreed on is that progression design can be insidious for the player. Games that aren’t RPGs that use progression stats are so weird . #HorizonZeroDawn having RPG leveling was an odd decision.

I brought up #YS as a series that I hear doesn’t waste your time to @ziaddd.bsky.social . Let’s just say that doesn’t go as planned 😅

The progression of #TalesofVesperia to your combat arsenal is magnificent. But the time convey that growth is 65 hours. Could you make that sense of growth occur in a shorter time span?

I am planning to get back to my Symphonia playthrough soon, this might really be the information I need to get me to really play with the exspheres more!

Here @ziaddd.bsky.social describes that #JRPG combat tend not only to waste time but literally take advantage of your real world time.

New episode out this week! On this week’s episode I have the Sephiroth of JRPGs on : @ziaddd.bsky.social . We unpack whether or not JRPG combat bad. We discuss if encounters are repetitive and dull . open.spotify.com/episode/1rVM...

I am not a #JRPG completionist! I don’t want to do all the sidequests or get all the ultimate weapons. The game should be fine as is. The only thing I get FOMO on is characters!

It’s clear why some fans of the original #FinalFantasy7 became anti-turnbased combat. The sense of grandeur is so key to its experience .

I love how thoughtful the materia system is for #FinalFantasy7 with how they incorporate drawbacks .

On this weeks episode I talk about finally playing the legendary #FinalFantasy7 . I obsess over materia and get confused on who Sephiroth is exactly. open.spotify.com/episode/4R2j...

It's always a good time for an rpg lol

For the next #FireEmblem , do you want to see paths or routes or something else.

One thing that was interesting in #FireEmblemThreeHouses is how time gated supports make the interactions more authentic . @actuallizard.bsky.social posits that adding conditions to them might be the next step to enrich the supports.

One of the most interesting things about #FireEmblemThreeHouses is its use of antagonistic supports to build bonds and connections . @actuallizard.bsky.social highlights that even though Fates and FE7 has them, Three Houses has much more #FireEmblem

Season 3 of Menu Combat debuts with @actuallizard.bsky.social and Halycon games. We talk about #FireEmblemThreeHouses ! open.spotify.com/episode/6TZD...

The first two episodes of season 3 locked and loaded for you all . Tommorow is the debut!

Next week Monday season 3 launches.

A tale about how I didn’t understand #TalesofSymphonia in 2004

I am in the Shinra building in OG #finalfantasyvii, what non spoilery advice would you give me to get the most of the experience! Once I heard about missable characters I wanted to know more to make sure I get them but didn't want to fall into spoilers!

Of the 8 beats I have done so far for the #AxeoftheBloodGodBeatChallenge which has been your favorite?

This is the 8th beat of the #AxeoftheBloodGodBeatChallenge. Inspired by Godbody Science. Here’s me sampling @bloodgodpod.bsky.social 18th game on their Top 25 RPG All Time List: #Persona5 . Did I do the game justice?

This is the 7th beat of the #AxeoftheBloodGodBeatChallenge. Inspired by Godbody Science. Here’s me sampling @bloodgodpod.bsky.social 19th game on their Top 25 RPG All Time List: #EldenRing . Did I do the game justice?

This is the 6th beat of the #AxeoftheBloodGodBeatChallenge . Inspired by Godbody Science. Here’s me sampling @bloodgodpod.bsky.social 20th game on their Top 25 RPG All Time List: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic #KOTOR. Did I do the game justice?

This is the 5th beat of the #AxeoftheBloodGodBeatChallenge . Inspired by Godbody Science. Here’s me sampling @bloodgodpod.bsky.social 21st game on their Top 25 RPG All #FinalFantasy7 . Did I do the game justice? KUPO

This is the 4th beat of the #AxeoftheBloodGodBeatChallenge. Inspired by Godbody Science. Here’s me sampling @bloodgodpod.bsky.social 22nd game on their Top 25 RPG All Time List Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines #VtmBloodlines . Did I do the game justice?

This is the 3rd beat of the #AxeoftheBloodGodBeatChallenge. Inspired by Godbody Science. Here’s me sampling @bloodgodpod.bsky.social 23rd game on their Top 25 RPG All Time List #BaldursGate2 . Did I do the game justice?

This is the 2nd beat of the #AxeoftheBloodGodBeatChallenge. Inspired by Godbody Science. Here’s me sampling @bloodgodpod.bsky.social 24th game on their Top 25 RPG All Time List #PokemonSilver #PokemonGold . Did I do the #Pokemon sample justice?

If you have missed it over on my main page, I been doing a beat challenge sampling all of Axe of the Blood God's Top 25 RPGs of all time. I will be retweeting each one I have done so far.

It was a different year for Menu Combat's second season. Thank you for listening to us. Can't wait to return for season 3.

Maybe you are curious if we ever talked about #Persona5Royal on Menu Combat. We did earlier this year, this snippet is about how strong the hook is !

If you want to get a gist of what the discussion is like on the Menu Combat podcast, give this discussion of Gilgamesh from #FinalFantasyV a whirl!