Waypoint Radio

There's a certain feeling that seems specific to modern Fire Emblem games, a sense of pride when you go into battle with your carefully leveled squad. You've come to know these characters intimately, watched their relationships with each other mature, and come to think of them as family. However, amongst the expansive cast of characters in Fire Emblem: Awakening, one particular character sticks out for having a great arc, and that's Donnel. A farm boy wearing a pot on his head, he starts...

Do you remember when we said “wouldn’t it be cool if game franchises got traded every year?” Well, two community members (@RevRyeBread and @regresssion) decided to write a short fantasy draft game that we’re gonna play! Tune in as Austin, Patrick, Rob, and Cado choose their platforms and vie to fill out their rosters with the best gaming franchises. There’s drama, tension, and lots of dubious math! Stick around after the game as Austin and Cado do a nearly frame by frame breakdown of the new...

We've returned this week revitalized by a new batch of episodes that, it turns out, we actually liked! The Waypoint Radio crew discusses the existential and physical horror of episodes 14-19 and ask, what is an Eva? Is it just a big Human? Is Gendo the original Wife guy? Why does their teacher just keep talking about the Second Impact? What are the Dead Sea Scrolls, and who is the Human Instrumentality Council? We discuss all this and more on this episode of Waypoints! For information...

It was a long weekend and that means we were all staring at our phones: Which is alright, because it turns out those have games on them now. Cado briefs us on the Capcom card game Teppen, the, uh, DOTA Autochess DOTA Underlords, and Austin is terrified of what an upcoming Gundam-builidng gacha game will do to his credit score. Back on consoles and PC, Patrick is disappointed by Sea of Solitude, while Rob offers high praise for F1 2019 and dire warning about Total War: Three Kingdoms: Do not...

Content Warning: discussion of the sexualization of children, sexual violence, and child pornography. There is a long running trope of fan service in anime, where by characters (almost always women) are sexualized by the "camera" for the enjoyment of the (largely male) audience. Often it's deployed in irrespective of whatever plot point is happening at that moment, purely to titillate. ​Evangelion ​is no exception, however, it complicates it's own usage by attempting to explore the...

The crew is at the top of their game in this episode about, um, NBA free agency, James Dolan's band, how FFXIV broke Austin, and the latest season of Riverdale. But also there are video games! We talk about them too! We talk about Mario Maker 2, and have some question about that boot that Mario uses (but Patrick doesn't). Rob talks about F1 2019 and its interesting but too-sparse narrative, before getting sidetracked by describing the plot of Draft Day. Cado's great too. Anyway, that's life...

We've got a long one today (partially to make up for Monday's short episode? Who could say!?) Danielle starts us off with her impressions of The Sinking City, Frogwares' new detective game set in a Lovecraftian flooded town. She and Austin discuss the game's racial politics and how they shift the lens through which Lovecraft wrote his original works, while Rob draws a through line from this game to the works of Dashiell Hammet. Then Patrick stares at a wall and groans about the existence of...

Neon Genesis Evangelion is finally streaming, and with it comes our long promised rewatch of the series. On this episode we discuss the first seven episodes, from the different translations, to it's cinematic story-telling, from it's use of sexist anime tropes, to the deep exploration of its character's psyches. Danielle, Rob, and Patrick give their first time impressions while Cado and Austin shoot knowing glances back and forth. It's a long one, so strap in! Episodes Discussed: 1: Angel...

Ah summer. A time for beaches, BBQs, and new game announcements... but not a whole ton of new games. Austin spent a weekend deep in TTRPG land, so it's up to Rob and Cado to talk about the games that have come out this week. We're fully into the summer lull, but Cado decided to take a vacation to the frigid new region in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne's beta. Rob's back from vacation, and he brought a few billion friends with him as he dives into the new single player campaign for They Are...

We had so many E3 questions we decided to split our recording on Tuesday into two podcasts so we could do a real deep dive into what you wanted to know about this year's show. We dig into how inspiration can take many forms in game development, games that have purposefully tackled political issues in the past, our personal histories with E3, and what the future of the expo might hold. Patrick checks back in with more info on Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, and shares a few anecdotes from his...

With the Netflix release of Neon Genesis Evangelion around the corner, we're rereleasing our conversation on the landmark series' first two episodes from Waypoints 10. The team examines the first two episodes, with Rob, Patrick, and Danielle giving their first ever impressions of the series, struck by it's narrative structure and striking visuals. Then Austin leads them through a discussion of the show's predecessors, it's troubled production, and complicated readings. We will be back next...

With E3 2019 behind us, the crew at Waypoint Radio turn their attention to what really matters: The games we played going to and coming from E3 2019. We dig into Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Ft. The Legend of Zelda, SteamWorld Quest, Slay the Spire, BattleTech: Urban Warfare and more! Plus, we begin to answer your questions about E3... but you'll have to tune in later in the week for the REAL deep dive into ol' Question Bucket. Games Discussed: PiXXL Cube, Dicey Dungeons,...

Twas the night after E3 And all through the house Not a producer was stirring No clicks of a mouse. The mics had been packed In the pelican with care, But podding must happen Even if Cado's not there Rob saw some Vampires That filled him with dread While Natalie had images Of Gooigi in her head Austin saw Link in his little green cap And Patrick was a Shark that mostly attacked And now E3 is over It’s been quite a sight! Merry Gamer Christmas to all, And to all a good...

We're nearly at the finish line. Day two of E3 2019 is in the books, and so is our podcast. Join Austin, Patrick, Cado, and Rob as they discuss how Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (aka Star Souls??) is actually rad, why we still don't know what to make of Marvel's Avengers even after watching someone play it, and more! Those more things include hands-on with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and impressions of Dying Light 2, Age of Empires II, Outer Worlds, and Psychonauts 2. For information regarding...

We have finally left the negative zone—E3 has officially started. Join Patrick, Cado, Austin, Rob, and The Joyous Gamer herself, Natalie, for a VERY LONG discussion about our first stay at the show. We start with Nintendo’s E3 announcements, including the surprise reveal of a sequel to Breath of the Wild, and what it means for Zelda’s role in the series. From there, a bunch of heavy hitters: Cyberpunk 2077, DOOM Eternal, Empire of Sin, Vampire Bloodlines 2, Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Ghost...

With just about all of the major conferences behind us, E3 2019 is now in full swing. Join the Waypoint Radio crew as they describe their hands on experiences with Ubisofts' Watch Dogs Legion and Roller Champions, plus their thoughts on Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Marvel's Avengers, and everything else from the Square-Enix's big event. What else was there at Square Enix's big event? Who could say. I'm writing this description at 2:14 AM, and you'll have to join us on this audio journey to find...

Microsoft and Bethesda brought a ton to show during their press conferences last night. But no story felt more important (in the broad view) than Microsoft's continued support of Xbox Game Pass, the company's subscription based service. With the announcement of the company's new service featuring a catalog of games especially curated for the PC, Game Pass has become a hard-to-deny value. In our second E3 2019 episode of Waypoint Radio, we dig deep into the service, plus chat about Cyberpunk...

It's Gamer Christmas Eve as Austin, Patrick, Cado, and Rob talk about the big E3 news that's already broken before E3 has even begun. The gang discuss the Google Stadia announcement and how it could transform game development and economics. They also dig into Destiny 2's upcoming expansion, Shadowkeep, and whether this is the kind of story and atmosphere that Destiny is capable of evoking. Other big changes are coming to Destiny as well, so the crew discusses the game's upcoming transition...

Rob may be back from vacation but he's definitely not all there on this loopy Waypoints. Patrick has gone back to Gareth Edwards' 2014 Godzilla and found an underappreciated gem whose perceived flaws may have resulted in an inferior sequel. Danielle can buy the giant monsters, but not the depiction of affordable family housing in San Francisco. Rob has the giggles, but maybe that's just because Bon Appetit's Youtube series are so funny. For information regarding your data privacy, visit...

Dread it, run from it, E3 still arrives. Despite quickly deleting any email referencing the “electronic entertainment expo” in our inboxes, apparently that won’t stop gaming’s biggest event from happening, so we might as well yell into a microphone about it. Austin, Cado, and Patrick use the press conference schedule for next week to talk about expectations, rumors, and surprises set for next week. And yes, we spend a lot of time wondering about the new From Software game. We also touch on a...