So.... we just saw a spike of listeners from Vietnam this last month? Shoutout to yall. Any of you all can tell us how you found us?!

It means a lot, it was a joy to have this kind of nuts and bolts view on design !

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?

Menu Combat 026 - Fire Emblem Fortunes Weave Trailer Analysis YouTube video by Menu Combat

I think the Youtube is better because we have the tailer footage there!

youtu.be/xbx7vudYkRM?...

Menu Combat 026 - Fire Emblem Fortunes Weave Trailer Discussion

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”

Menu Combat - Everything About JRPG Items YouTube video by Menu Combat

We got a youtube link for you too

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwPM...

Menu Combat 025 - Everything about items in JRPGS (Feat. Jeremiah) Menu Combat · Episode

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!

Menu Combat 024 - The Genius of Yukiko's Castle in Persona 4 & Playing Within the Sprit of a Game YouTube video by Menu Combat

We got the YouTube too

youtu.be/D6BM7fOMw7o?...

Menu Combat 024 - The Genius of Yukiko's Dungeon & What Does it Mean to Play Within the Spirit of a Game Menu Combat · Episode

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?

Menu Combat 023 - Persona 4 Golden Opening Hours & Gaming Discourse Impact on Perceptions YouTube video by Menu Combat

Got the YouTube for you too

youtu.be/Oyn4tUUs7bo?...

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.

lol that really sums up his perspective well

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!