Popzara Podcast

Article: Fire Emblem Engage

Who'd have thought that in 2023 we'd still be playing spicy new games on the Nintendo Switch? It's a console that seemed to be obsolete the second it was released, technologically speaking; today, your phone's probably got more horsepower than this thing. I guess nobody bothered to tell Nintendo as new games are still dropping, they're still fantastic and we're still playing them.

The State of Gaming January 2023: Fire Emblem Engage, Dead Space, Forspoken, Persona, One Piece, Colossal Cave, Vengeful Guardian, Tár’s Monster Hunter and NPD

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.

The new year gets off with a bang! The biggest games of the month include: Fire Emblem Engage, Forspoken, Dead Space, One Piece Odyssey, A Space for the Unbound, Persona 4 Golden + Persona 3 Portable, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, Colossal Cave (welcome back Ken and Roberta Williams!), fresh new Xbox ports of Monster Hunter Rise and Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, and more.

A little self-promotion! Don’t forget Popzara’s State of Gaming year-end spectacular on the best, worst, and everything else we loved (and loathed) in the world of gaming for 2022, with returning champ Antal Bokar (from 3rd Coast Review and Culture Combine).

Article: Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider

It's been mentioned plenty of times on this very site, but nostalgia is a hell of a thing. It's tough for anyone to avoid pining for the past, and the games industry - both the AAA and indie sides - are well aware of this.

Article: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

It goes without saying the original Shrek significantly changed the animation landscape upon its release in 2001. It wasn’t just that it took age-old fairytales and emphasized their inherent absurdities through clever irony and wordplay, but the DreamWorks Animation film used a modern comedic style in a way that family-oriented animation hadn’t ever seen.

Article: Teasing Master Takagi-san 3: Complete Collection

Teasing Master Takagi-san is one of those cute, slice-of-life comedy series that you just can’t help but like. It’s good to know the show is doing well in Japan and even here in the states as we now have the third season in Teasing Master Takagi-san 3: Complete Collection.

Article: Carole & Tuesday: Complete Collection

Ever since Shinichiro Watanabe directed some of the best anime out there such as Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, and Samurai Champloo to name a few, I’ve always tried to keep up on whatever he’s working on next. I had heard about this 2019 anime series some time ago, and now thanks to Sentai I got to see it with their Carole & Tuesday: Complete Collection Blu-ray set.

Article: Toka Gettan - The Moonlight Lady Returns: Complete Collection

When going through some of the anime shows I’ve seen, I’ll sometimes learn that a few of them were based off visual novels in Japan, and most of them were of the adult variety. Thankfully most of the series will tone down the adult content and focus more on the story aspect, as is the case with Toka Gettan - The Moonlight Lady Returns: Complete Collection which combines fantasy, romance, and some light action that features a little something for everyone.

Article: Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator

As a holder of a fancy university history degree, I really enjoy historical games. They may not all be entirely accurate, but it’s really fun to see how creators are inspired by history.

Article: M3GAN (2023)

M3GAN stands for “Model 3 Generative Android” - it’s going to be the most advanced children’s toy ever created. In this horror thriller produced by horror veterans James Wan and Jason Blum, the story focuses on an orphaned girl who becomes emotionally attached to a prototype robotic doll that gradually becomes self aware and murderously violent towards anybody who harms her assigned human.

Article: Nextorage NEM-PA Series PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD

Gen 4.0 M.

Article: Nextorage G Series PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD

Gen 4.0 M.

Article: A Death in Tokyo (2022)

It’s been a good four years since fans of Keigo Higashino’s Detective Kaga series had something new to pour over (in English, anyway), the last being 2018’s Newcomer, but their patience has been rewarded with A Death in Tokyo, the long overdue localization of the original Japanese edition published way back in 2011. There was even a live-action adaptation starring Hiroshi Abe as the famous detective back in 2012, meaning unless you’re fluent in Japanese (or don’t mind subtitles), this will likely be your first acquaintance with it.

Article: The State of Gaming: The Best, Worst (and Everything Else) Games of 2022

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast…for the year 2022! On this extra special year-end recap episode our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are once again joined by extra special guest Antal Bokor (from 3rd Coast Review) – with assists from other Popzara Pals – to discuss the best, worst, and everything else that helped make gaming in 2022 surprisingly great. Let’s get to it! So many games! Did your favorites make the cut? Games discussed include: Elden Ring, Immortality, High on Life, Vampire Survivors (and its clones), Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Scorn, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Gran Turismo 7, Escape Simulator, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, PowerSlave Exhumed, FixFox, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Ooblets, Atari 50: Anniversary, Stray, Sonic Frontiers, and many others.

Article: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)

Some franchises come and go, but there's others that just never die. Consider, for instance, what the world would be like if we didn't get annual releases of Chulip games.

The State of Gaming: The Best, Worst (and Everything Else) Games of 2022

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast…for the year 2022! On this extra special year-end recap episode our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are once again joined by extra special guest Antal Bokor (from 3rd Coast Review) – with assists from other Popzara Pals – to discuss the best, worst, and everything else that helped make gaming in 2022 surprisingly great.

So many games! Did your favorites make the cut? Games discussed include: Elden Ring, Immortality, High on Life, Vampire Survivors (and its clones), Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Scorn, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, Gran Turismo 7, Escape Simulator, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, PowerSlave Exhumed, FixFox, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Ooblets, Atari 50: Anniversary, Stray, Sonic Frontiers, and many others.

Come for the lists, stay for the commentary! The guys recap a year overflowing with quality blockbusters worth your time (and some stinkers not so much), touching on everything that made 2022 so memorable. Collections! Remasters! Rehashes! We got it all. Do hits like Sonic 2 and Uncharted mean videogame movies/shows will finally break through in 2023? Does Valve’s Steam Deck live up to the hype? Did Sonic creator Yuji Naka really get arrested (twice)? Will cloud-gaming ever become a thing? Listen today!