Why Twisted Metal is the Perfect Nostalgia | The Backdrop
This week's episode of The Backdrop is now available!
2025-08-12 15:03:23 +0000 UTC View Post
SecondWindGroup posts
[AD-FREE] Letting Franchises Die With Dignity | Windbreaker Podcast
On this week’s episode of Windbreaker, Yahtzee, Marty, and JM8 chat what the best course of action is for a franchise that has seemingly lost its way.
2025-08-12 00:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post[AD-FREE] There Are SO MANY Games, and We Have Been Playing Them | Firelink Podcast
This week on Firelink, Marty, KC, and Nick chat update their Fantasy Critic League, and chat about a ton of stuff they've been playing, including Battlefield 6, Final Fantasy X, and a bunch of new indies.
2025-08-11 20:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post[COLUMN] Zack Cregger's Weapons is Intensely Personal, Chillingly Universal | by Darren Mooney
Note: This piece contains discussions of Weapons, including spoilers for the movie. It is, like Cregger’s Barbarian, a horror movie best seen completely blind so that one might enjoy its various twists and turns. It’s also great, another strong horror movie in a year of strong horror movies. So feel free to put this piece in the holster until you’ve had a chance to watch the film.
Weapons is an intensely personal film for director Zach C...
2025-08-11 14:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post[COLUMN] With Past Lives and Materialists, Celine Song is One of the Great Internet Filmmakers | by Darren Mooney
As a writer and director, Celine Song is something of a paradox.
Dramatically, Song’s roots are in theatre. Her first major work was the play Endings, which was performed Off-Broadway between February and March 2020, its run cut short by the pandemic. Song’s love of theatre shines through in her work. In Materialists, Song playfully credits herself as the wr...
2025-08-08 14:00:21 +0000 UTC View Post[WRITE-IN] Firelink Episode #78
This week on Firelink we're revisiting our Fantasy Critic draft for a mid-year refresh, KC's finally back from his wedding, Nick's had time with Battlefield 6, and Marty's playing a bunch of indies you haven't heard about yet!
Send in your thoughts, questions, or topics you'd be interested in us discussing! We won't have time to read and discuss everything, and please keep posts topical, safe for work and not huge walls of text.
Submissions close at 6 PM CT on Thursd...
A Rant About Video Game Puns | Semi-Ramblomatic
This week's episode of Semi-Ramblomatic is now available!
2025-08-07 15:30:58 +0000 UTC View PostSid Meier's Pirates! | Fully Ramblomatic
This week on Fully Ramblomatic, the Patreon community voted for Yahtzee to review Sid Meier's Pirates! for this year's Summer Drought episode!
2025-08-06 16:32:37 +0000 UTC View Post[COLUMN] Notes From My First Final Fantasy X Replay in 24 Years | by Marty Sliva
In the lead-up to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I wanted to do a full replay/rewatch of everything in the FF7-sphere to prepare for the new game. That somehow morphed into me starting with Final Fantasy I, and making my way through every game in the franchise chronologically, culminating in the whole swath of FF7-related media like Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, ...
2025-08-05 14:01:07 +0000 UTC View Post[AD-FREE] The Point in a Game That Kills the Replay | Windbreaker Podcast
On this week’s episode of Windbreaker, Yahtzee, Marty, and JM8 chat about the moments in games that grind a replay to a halt.
2025-08-05 00:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post[PATREON EXCLUSIVE] Smashing or Passing on Smash Bros Ultimate
As part of our group video series, here's a new thing we did. I won't spoil anything for you, just click it, watch it... and see what you think.
2025-08-04 16:35:58 +0000 UTC View PostWhat Devs STILL Misunderstand About Open World Design | Design Delve
This week's episode of Design Delve is now available!
2025-08-04 15:03:31 +0000 UTC View Post[COLUMN] Clayface Just Became the Most Important Superhero Film of 2026 | by Darren Mooney
It has been a rough couple of years for comic book movies at the box office.
Last year, the only superhero movie to earn more than $500m was Deadpool & Wolverine, and that was the first superhero movie since Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021 to cross the billion-dollar mark. It’s been a ...
2025-08-04 14:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostLuto, Wheel World, Birdigo, and FUMES | Yahtzee Tries
This week's episode of Yahtzee Tries is now available!
2025-08-03 16:04:44 +0000 UTC View PostIs Soulslike Fatigue Really an Issue? | Unpacked
This week's episode of Unpacked is now available!
2025-08-01 15:02:57 +0000 UTC View Post[AD-FREE] Can Battlefield 6 Still Deliver the Juice? | Firelink Podcast
This week on Firelink, Marty and Nick chat about today's big Battlefield 6 reveal, the underwhelming Nintendo Partner Showcase, and what they've been playing.
2025-08-01 15:00:23 +0000 UTC View Post[COLUMN] The Compelling Hubris of Waterworld | by Darren Mooney
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Waterworld, the infamous Kevin Costner vehicle that has become shorthand for a particular sort of cinematic folly.
Waterworld is an interesting film. Very few big-budget late-summer blockbusters introduce their lead character, played by one of the biggest movie stars in the world, urinating into a cup, feeding that cup int...
2025-08-01 14:00:29 +0000 UTC View Post[WRITE-IN] Firelink Episode #77
A bit of a lackluster Nintendo direct, and EA has huge ambitions for Battlefield!
Send in your thoughts, questions, or topics you'd be interested in us discussing! We won't have time to read and discuss everything, and please keep posts topical, safe for work and not huge walls of text.
Submissions close at 6 PM CT on Thursday, July 31st.
Primal Planet Review | Bytesized
Jesse Galena reviews Primal Planet, developed by Seethingswarm.
2025-07-31 15:03:56 +0000 UTC View PostDonkey Kong Bananza | Fully Ramblomatic
This week's episode of Fully Ramblomatic is now available!
2025-07-30 16:02:26 +0000 UTC View Post[AD-FREE] Did Either The Fantastic Four: First Steps or Happy Gilmore 2 Spark Joy? | The Rewind Podcast
This week on The Rewind, Darren, Jack, and Marty chat about The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Happy Gilmore 2.
2025-07-30 00:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post[PATREON EXCLUSIVE] Remember When We Used to Read Video Game Mags?
This month's experimental Patreon video is from Marty!
Enjoy!
In Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel Discovers That Time is Running Out | The Backdrop
A new episode of The Backdrop is now available!
2025-07-29 15:02:51 +0000 UTC View Post[AD-FREE] Annoying Design Choices in Games | Windbreaker Podcast
On this week’s episode of Windbreaker, Yahtzee, Marty, and JM8 chat about the design decisions in games that really irk them.
2025-07-29 02:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostDonkey Kong Bananza Is the Most Nintendo Game Ever
A new video essay is now available from Marty!
2025-07-28 15:02:21 +0000 UTC View Post[COLUMN] Fantastic Four: First Steps Thinks of the Children | by Darren Mooney
Note: This piece contains spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which opens this weekend in theatres. For those looking for a quick review, the film is fine and functional. It struggles with what to do with Ben (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Johnny (Joseph Quinn) and would benefit from slowing down to unpack and explore some of its big ideas. But it’s well-structured...
2025-07-28 14:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostFrightening Farming, Cryptic Conversations, and Supernatural Secrets | Wishlist
This week on Wishlist, Jess Hoops takes a look at five upcoming creepy, cozy, and story-rich games.
2025-07-27 16:20:23 +0000 UTC View Post[AD-FREE] Chatting DK Bananza + Predicting 2025's GOTY Nominees | Firelink Podcast
Hey hey! Marty and Jack are going to gab about Donkey Kong Bananza, predictions for the the six games that will be nominated for GOTY at the Game Awards, and some Summer 2025 anime reccos.
2025-07-26 00:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post[COLUMN] The New Cinema of Grief | by Darren Mooney
Note: Given this piece is about death in contemporary pop culture, you should expect spoilers for a lot of films. There are so many of them it’s almost impossible to list all of them - and listing them would amount to a spoiler of itself. So proceed with caution!
Over the past couple of years, populist cinema has returned repeatedly to the question of grief....
2025-07-25 14:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostWuchang: Fallen Feathers Review | Bytesized
Nick Calandra checked out Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, developed by Leenzee and published by 505 Games.
2025-07-24 19:35:00 +0000 UTC View Post