Into the Aether - A Low Key Video Game Podcast · Stephen Hilger + Brendon Bigley

Toot My Own Back (feat. Hytale, Escape From Ever After, Tekken 3, and more!)

·1 hr 36 min·1 clip

The episode starts with Brendan Bigley and Stephen Hilger back in Chicago. They ease in with a couple of celebrity stories and the sort of side chatter that makes the show feel like a conversation first and a segment second. The game talk comes in naturally after that. What follows is a long look at a project that seems determined to pack itself with ideas. The hosts keep coming back to how much fun it would be if the game world kept escalating its own jokes, including the image of Count Dracula running an in-office shop. That image pretty much captures the mood. They are amused, but they are also paying attention to structure. The main loop is exploration across worlds with different twists on familiar fantasy ideas. The party setup matters a lot to them. The Big Bad Wolf becomes the first party member after Tinder. They clearly like that reveal. The bard matters too. It feels like the kind of party that needs a bard, and the hosts are happy to say it. The wolf's songs add another layer. Those songs are entered with the D-pad or face buttons and can trigger different effects in the world. One early song makes plants grow. That is enough to make the mechanics sound playful, useful, and a little more ambitious than they first seem. By the end, they are back on the bigger genre question, trying to figure out how this kind of game sets itself apart from Paper Mario without losing the charm that made them interested in the first place.

As heard by us

A loose, thoughtful game chat that turns a playful adventure into a broader genre question.

Brendan Bigley and Stephen Hilger keep Into the Aether in its low-key groove, and the easy back-and-forth gives the episode a clear shape even as the game keeps adding ideas.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a low-key RPG chat that keeps opening new doors.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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