retroAM

Terranigma 2: Countdown to Geezer [Five Towers]

Whatever you think, I know entirely. This time we’re touching the box, meeting Yomi, realizing the menu is real, encountering the whole hole, freezing the populace, setting out for the overworld, talking to a face, getting the basics of combat, slaying huballs, going to space church, resurrecting continents, walking across tightropes, noting geographic and cultural references, speaking with pumpkins, weaving a crystal thread into a crystal cape, praying the baller prayer, and looking at the...

Xenogears 46: Expressing Anger Through Lore [Merkava Calls]

I am fated so as not to be able to kill myself. On this ecstatic episode we're visiting the Ark Park, warning the Elements, imagining nanomachine battles, falling between sculptures, clinging our fists, insulting science experiments, reducing ourselves to one hit point, gazing upon eyeball baskets, detaching Anima relics, not killing immortal villains, shooting our friend, extracting genetic factors, and jumping in a magic pool full of glowstick fluid. Adeiu, boys. 

2020-08-03 11:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Xenogears 45: Exegesises on Cruxifixes [Promised Land + Waiting Death]

Girl, that hurt.  Today we're crucifying machines and Chu-Chu, negotiating with Krelian, finding our precious birds, doing sick combos, doing even sicker combos, doing the sickest combos, listening to Omen, wondering why we were left alive, deleting digital existence, looking fleshly, aligning pronouns with nanomachines, not going to Cracker Barrel, refusing to listen to reason, and blaming my problems on my girlfriend. Your feelings must be in the right place. That is strength.  2020-07-27 11:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Terranigma 1: Pal Territory [Crysta]

The first episode of our Terranigma miniseries begins! The first episode is free to all and the remainder will continue on the miniseries tier ($5).

We have a look of trouble about ourselves. In the debut episode of our Terranigma miniseries, we’re talking about Quintet, laying text out of bitmaps, adding 13 o’clock, appreciating fast text, observing airborne Crystal Blue, ruining things at the weaver’s, definitely not opening a spooky door, busting pots, wondering if we’re the ...

Xenogears 44: Circumstances that Led to This Coitus [Above Mahanon + Paradise]

Don't worry, I won't die. Today we're being a man and confronting the problem, performing an anime kiss, becoming one body, having awkward sex in Maria's room, embracing feminism with Margie, experiencing reincarnation through remote viewing, losing our transformer, paying off references from sixty hours ago, recognizing strange faces in scary places, inheriting instincts, halving hit points, soft-locking with Deus, finding the unthinkable when accessing the data, optionally losing to Alpha W...

Xenogears 43: More Stereo Dripping [The Stars Know]

Let us unravel the mystery of Shakespearean demises with our animal friends.   This time we're checking in with disc 2, genociding the Croaker Tribe, solving arcane riddles to put rocks in holes, discovering ancient murals, falling through other holes, getting crushed by the ceiling, measuring water levels, suffering the tragedy of Hammer, glitching out, viewing clone violence, being logic and using logic as a logic lord, pissing off the Fake Net, elevating slumbering ships, meeting...

Xenogears Perfect Works 8: Character Quiz

The final Perfect Works episode is here, and it is certainly an episode. We go deep on character lore and miscellaneous facts about the various backstories that may or may not have made their way into the game. Of all the lore in the book, this chapter includes the most funnest of facts, and we had several amounts of fun making this episode. Thanks for your support!

Xenogears 42: Merge for the Kill [Soul Vessel]

Let us join together as we unravel the mystery of interdimensional chair sitting. On this episode we're getting deposited in dungeons, meeting Shopkeeper Johnny, eating death, replacing fuses to open lock A, solving arcane puzzles to open lock B, enjoying the sound of steam bolt locks, acquiring god technology, fighting teen girl squads, watching their Gears combine into one larger Gear, hitting our rivals with psychoanalysis, conspiring to kill Cain with Cain, wishing we could actually see R...

Laying out the next phase of the podcast

As we've been saying, the eventual content structure of the podcast is going to revolve around the model of a main series and a miniseries. As the Perfect Works series wraps up with episode 8 coming up very soon, we're shifting toward the new model towards the end of the month. We absolutely still have a few things planned for Xenogears bonus content!

Looking ahead, we're in the thick of the very weird Terranigma miniseries. I think people are going to really enjoy how the podcast is co...

Xenogears Perfect Works 7: Science & Gear Quiz

We make these quizzes to own each other and entertain you. 

This time, we're talking about the Science and the Gears. 

 What do you pray for in a world in which such things (both aspirations and desires) can be attained through science? What is god if not an artificial system of punishments and rewards? If humanity were immortal, would they feel the impetus to create and innovate? If god were a machine, would it still be god? This and more, coming up after these mes...

Xenogears 41: The Ultimate JPEG [Break the Seal]

If only you didn't exist. This time we're continuing to dream, imposing a total sentence of ten years, reacquiring Knight of Fire, shattering Ramsus' absolute confidence, launching nanoparticles into the atmosphere, battling Solarian super weapons, realizing government buildings are ships and robots, mutating into abnormal forms, eating god's apostles, subverting the Gazel, constructing monsters with organic compounds, cinematically merging Elly and Sophia, watching anime for the first time i...

Time of the Bonus 9: The Xenogears Intro Movie

Join us for a thorough analysis of the Xenogears introductory movie. The introduction of Xenogears seeds the the game's plot right before our eyes. At the same time, it provides the answers to the mysteries introduced throughout the game. 

From the beginning, it is impossible to decode the answers the game provides. Understanding Xenogears requires understanding the genesis of the systems that drive the plot. 

In this episode, we attempt to unroll the answers that Xenoge...

Xenogears 40: Being Naked in Tubes Together [Shot Down!]

Please insert Disc 2. This time we're literally and virtually sitting in chairs, unpacking our own existence, spending quality time painting our partners, exploring our interiority through our reclaimed souls, loving the same soul across epochs of time, exploring the duality of dreaming, waking up naked, forgetting our names, worrying our comatose girlfriend might forget us, controlling Id with a System, debating the path of fate, listening to Mitsuda music from different games, telling women...

Xenogears Perfect Works 6: Geography & Monster Quiz

Read up, dear reader. 
We're doing another quiz show to test the the Perfect Works knowledge of Chris. The Perfect Works contains some quite miscellaneous facts about the world of Xenogears. Some of quite interesting, some of it quite inconsequential, some of it quite hilarious. Learn along with us, hear Eric's uncanny ability to make up fake answers, or test your innate encyclopedic knowledge!
 Of course, this would never be possible without the 2020-06-17 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post

Xenogears 39: Monotheism is Not on the Menu [Shevat's Move + Broken Ties]

Let's go, Fei. In this episode we're acting on Emperor Cain's directions, concluding managers are no longer needed, denying mental health issues exist, selecting Ramsus as our favorite tool, realizing we're our own subordinate, registering as tenants in the room of cowardice, using our girlfriend as brain armor, defining The Coward and The Bully, encasing dangerous friends in carbonite, participating in apologetic group therapy, dismissing logic lords, downgrading to Steel Giant, and reading ...

How to join the Discord community

Hey everyone! 

I just wanted to do a specific post to answer the question we get occasionally: How do I join the Retrograde Amnesia Discord server? Our server is for patrons-only, but we won't kick you out if you have to delete your pledge! 

What the hell is Discord?

Shit, I don't know. It's like a chat room. Anyway, it's a nice place for online communities to gather and chat about stuff.  Patrons have access to stream our recording sessions, ...

Xenogears 38: Annoying Handyman [Tears for Fears + Fall of Solaris]

Chris didn't know Tears for Fears is a real band. On this episode we're telling Ramsus we're in different situations, putting four people in our party, realizing Emeralda is the original Bayonetta, meeting all of our friends again twice, declining to use our Jugend training, fighting Grahf in person, bungling a sacrifice play, replacing death with the next dimension, unmasking the Executioner, blowing up a bridge, and sorting out intense identity issues. You had no time to say goodbye but, do...

Retrograde Amnesia: Future Structured & Whatnot

Hey everyone. Hope you're hanging in there.

Patreon is charging sales tax. Starting on July 1, Patreon will be begin charging sales tax. This sucks, but this is reality. Let's go.

Here's how we're handling it. According to Patreon, creators define the benefits within each tier and Patreon will determine the tax ...

Xenogears 37: Unworthy Molecular Machine [Krelian's Lab, Part II]

God has given us a right to rule over the universe. This time we're identifying our assholes, getting imprisoned in a CRT Danger Room, suffering betrayal, citing Arch Angels, arking artifacts, enduring an MRI, awakening some other inner-selves, reading three books a day, discovering the urobolus ring, nursing an obsession with our 500 year old girlfriend, defining damn it, fighting for a place where we can belong, going on drug benders, and blinging our sword. Now is not the time to contempla...

Xenogears 36: This is Reality. Let's Go. [Krelian's Lab, Part I]

We're opening our minds and drinking the purest form of nutrition; people. This time we're getting sucked up in a dust chute, destroying ventilation infrastructure, gluttonously gobbling up idle foodstuffs, hacking another computer, eating Soylent in real life, manufacturing memory cubes, liberating mutated prisoners, murdering mutated prisoners, challenging the Bloody Bros, missing with magic, learning facts from holograms, and asking Citan questions he doesn't like. This is reality. Let's g...

It's May and here's what is up with us.

Hello there! Thank you for your continued support and welcome to all of the new folks that have joined us this month.

For those unaware, we have a Discord server. You can join by linking your Discord account to your Patreon account in the settings. You will automatically be added to the Discord server at that point. We stream our recording sessions live here, so you can join the conversation if you'd like. We implemented this starting with episode 40, so in a few weeks ...

Xenogears Perfect Works 5: Social Structure Quiz

The Perfect Works offers a deep exploration of the various social constructs and organizations that make up the geopolitical landscape and feed into the goals of the M Plan. Our goal is to find a fun way to talk through these constructs. 
Thus, please allow us to discuss the Social Structure chapter of the Xenogears Perfect Works through another quiz show format. Eric wrote 100+ questions on the chapter. Listen to Chris test his knowledge by trying to answer them. Let's go.
Of cour...

Xenogears 35: End of the Shitpipe [Escape Solaris + Lone Wolf]

This is better than Doc's bathtub! In these two chapters, we're loving raw sewage, wrecking security cubes, walking into wealthy Solarian's houses with poop-stained clothes, predicting soylent, telling our girlfriend her mom is hot, putting a shower in our rooms, getting a psycho rod from the maid, hacking our father's computer, desiring a trash chute, reporting our daughter as a burglar, punching out windows, walking out on our girlfriend, @$&%$#!, and evading death squads. Every time my...

Time of the Bonus 8: Xenogears Comic Anthology, Part II

Part II of our series on the Xenogears Comic Anthology has arrived!

If you haven't read the scanlation, check it out here. If you're not interested in reading the comics, well, we've got you covered because we talk through each story in detail.

Thank you for your continued support and please enjoy the podcast!

Xenogears 34: Doomsday Prep for the Super Rich [Into Solaris]

We're entering Solaris to beat up all the fascists, kill their leaders, and save the world. Our discussion and activities include wondering why Krelian let Emeralda go, denying the compulsion to adopt Maria, worrying about Hammer time, getting in shipping containers, realizing most of the fictional Solarian hellscape is 2020's actual hellscape, escaping with Samson, removing Samson from the physical plane, engaging The Chewbacca Defense, Entrenstrolling, either killing or returning to Mother ...

Season 2 Announcement Podcast

Here's the results and announcement show we recorded as we revealed the results to ourselves, recorded on May 4. Thanks to everyone who participated! Looking forward to the conclusion of Season 1 (which will take 55 episodes) and a new beginning with Season 2!

And the winner is...

Since many have asked, I'll spill the beans. 

Thank you for your support and participation. By a razor-thin margin, Chrono Cross will be the Retrograde Amnesia Season 2 game! There will be an official public announcement soon, but for now, here is the breakdown of how the weighted scores broke out. 

Your modifier was calculated by adding your lifetime contribution ($) + 1 month pledge for all patrons who signed up prior to April 1. This was added because...

Xenogears 33: Showing His Samurai Ass [Gate 3: The Deep]

We did three podcasts in one night. Probably a mistake, but there is no other way to discuss Rattan other than through the lens of a slight drunkenness and exhaustion.

How do you do? This time we're concluding Drunk Elevator Guy is an assigned position, breaking the Fake Net, obtaining underwater gear for our Gears, getting physically wrecked by Mermen, getting mentally wrecked by Rattan, substituting wings for arms, meeting Kim (who is Fei), revealing Solaris from the ether, having mom...

R4: Ridge Racer Type-4 Retrospective

And now, for something completely different.

Released in North America on May 1st 1999, R4: Ridge Racer Type-4 closed a generation—and a millennium—with character and class. Namco’s signature racing series, once defined by its garish spectacle and manic energy, finally relaxed into a state of confident sophistication.

This podcast is a complete retrospective on R4: Ridge Racer Type-4 written and narrated by Eric Layman.

32: Angle it for the Drop Ratio [Gate 2: Babel]

Calm down, your pants are too loud. In this episode, we're worrying Chu-Chu might be out of unique dialogue, witnessing the effect of monarchy's dissolution on the local non-playable populace, eating fish out of an aquarium, fantasy equipping Ramsus' speedo, decimating Elements, appreciating Kelvana's professionalism, missing incredibly important laser shots, solving imaginary union disputes, not knowing where Solaris is, extracting data from nanomachines, and spreading panic to Etrenank. Onc...