But Why Tho? The Podcast

[From Patreon] Welcome to a new bi-weekly Patreon exclusive show, I Bet You Haven't Seen This. Every other week, Patrons at any tier will get to hear about at least three things we bet you haven't seen and why you totally should. This week, But Why Tho's Senior Editor Jason takes the reigns to walk you through what's on VOD, what's seating in theaters, and what's fleeting from streamers at the end of November. #1: Seating/Streaming — Maestro  #2: Streaming(ish) — The Shadow of the Sun (La Sombra del Sol) (not currently available on VOD) #3: Fleeting — Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth (Leaving Criterion Channel Nov 30 but still available elsewhere) #4: Streaming — Foe (available to buy on VOD) #5: Streaming — Forgotten Love (Znachor)  Check out all of our written reviews on Butwhytho.net

This week, Alex, Adrian, and Kate talk about the appeal of competition as entertainment. From Survivor to The Challenge and Physical 100, the trio talk about why they like watching this specific genre of entertainment and why we're all just a little bloodthirsty in the end.

Wizards of the Coast and Magic: the Gathering have been embracing diversity in fantasy storytelling. With a beautifully adapted Lord of the Rings set that was released earlier in 2023 and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan set, it's a beautiful time to see yourself represented in fantasy in ways that haven't been present before. This month, Magic the Gathering released a stellar Mesoamerican-inspired The Lost Caverns of Ixalan that brought to life gods, places, and the dinosaurs of the Yucatan and reimagined conquistadores as vampires. The set was immediately recognizable as one of the sharpest and most informed explorations of Mesoamerican myth and beauty in fantasy. To talk about this, we spoke with Art Director Ovidio Cartagena about The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, the cards' art inspiration, working with historians, and what it means to represent Latin America in one of the most notable Fantasy franchises in pop culture.

If this week’s episode was a cereal it would be Oops All Recommendations. Listen along as Alex, Swara, and Adrian share the things that have them excited. From manga to TV to games and beyond, if you’re looking for something to love we’ve got you covered. 

Alan Wake II is already set to be one of the top games of the year. With layered horror storytelling and a mixed-medium approach to game design, this sequel to 2010's Alan Wake carries on the legacy of one of gaming's biggest horror-mystery icons. Developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games, we got the chance to talk with Creative Director Sam Lake and Game Director Kyle Rowley about Remedy's first survival horror game and revisiting an IP 13 years later. Additionally, we discuss Saga's importance and the uniqueness of bringing in another protagonist hero alongside your titular character and making her just as important. 

This week, Alex, Kate, and Swara skip the news, skip the jokes, and get serious. Whether it's saying, "it's a great year for gaming," when every studio is laying off developers, talking about movies during a strike, or having podcasts while a genocide is being allowed to happen, how do we keep talking about pop culture when the world is so...bad? It's a tough question and one we've been grappling with and today, we talk about it.  How do you keep talking about pop culture when the world is on fire? When everything so terrible that it's hard to keep going? We try to give you our answers.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Matt talk about games as service. Which genres benefit from it? Which ones struggle with the pivot? And, we debate, the question: Sequel versus constant expansions? While live service may bring an eye roll from some gamers, we think they may just be an answer to some of gaming's problems. 

Assassin's Creed Mirage is bringing this iconic video game franchise back to its roots in more ways than one. Perhaps most significantly, by setting this installment in West Asia (the Middle East) once again, like the original Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft has moved the franchise forward by taking it back to its roots. By giving us another Arab Assassin protagonist (after Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad) in Basim Ibn Ishaq (Lee Majdoub) in Assassin's Creed Mirage.  When we interviewed the game's star, Lee Majdoub, and the game's narrative director, Sarah Beaulieu, our conversation explored the creative development of Mirage and the significance of this role for Majdoub. It was clear through our conversation that Majdoub was in a collaborative, supportive, and culturally respectful environment, one that unfortunately remains rare for actors of Southwest Asian or North African (SWANA) backgrounds. The dedication that Beaulieu, her narrative team, and the Ubisoft developers took to make 9th Century Baghdad as culturally mea

As the Assassin's Creed franchise returns to its roots in West Asia for Assassin's Creed: Mirage, allowing players to explore the splendor of Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th Century, Ubisoft has recruited a Persian legend to help bring this story to life. An icon in Iranian and many other SWANA communities and beyond, Shohreh Aghdashloo has paved the way for SWANA actors to have roles that transcend beyond the stereotypes we're too often limited to, even though these nuanced roles for our communities remain highly limited. Aghdashloo has played many roles throughout her storied career, but it was clear, for many reasons as we spoke, that to take the role of the Persian Master Assassin Roshan, mentor of the main character Basim Ibn Ishaq (Lee Majdoub), had unique significance in Assassin's Creed: Mirage.

Castlevania: Nocturne Season 1 is here and it's expanding the world of the hit series, that some people would say broke the video game adaptation curse (it's me, I'm some people). Set in the 18th century in the middle of the French Revolution, audiences are introduced to a new Belmont, and a new evil, the Vampire Messiah. In this interview, Directors Sam and Adam Deats and showrunner Kevin Kolde talk about bringing Castlevania to life, the changes in animation, Annette's (Thuso Mbedu) journey from a footnote to a protagonist, and how Richter (Edward Bluemel) embodies a shonen protagonist in his growth.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Matt are on to talk about Rotten Tomatoes or, more importantly the "Decomposition of Rotten Tomatoes," the Vulture article that questioned not only the legitimacy as the aggregator but the critics of it as well. Do we need a middle ground? Or is fresh and rotten enough? Also, how does widening access almost always result in high scores — hint, it's not from bribing. We dive into the topic and discuss the importance, or the lack thereof the review aggregator. 

It's not every day that a studio gets handed the keys to Disney's most magical property, Mickey and Friends. Recently, Dlala Studios was given that chance and more in their new game, Disney Illusion Island. In their fresh take on the Metroidvania genre, Dlala got to create their own fresh story for Disney's Fab 4, and even were one of the historical few to create a new design for Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. Yet there were some lingering questions after hitting the credits. Like, why was there no combat? What inspired the team to create these versions of these characters? What hoops did the team have to jump through while working with Disney? This week, we sat down with Dlala studio CEO and Illusion Island Creative Director/Writer AJ Grand Strutton to talk about all that and more.

At PAX West 2023, we got the chance to talk to Design Director Artie Rogers and Narrative Director Sam Johnson, developers on Wizard101 and Pirate101. In this interview, the duo discusses the importance of building an MMO that is driven by the community and how Wizard101 has been able to evolve over time to offer players the ability to play how they want to.

This week Alex, Katherine, and a Charles sit down to talk about how consumption and capitalism collide when a movie, game, or show launches. Is it your fault when something “underperforms?” Do studios give shows enough time to  breathe before canceling them? All that and more this week on But Why Tho. 

Phoenix Labs has swung for the fences with its cozy dungeoneering social sim Fae Farm. With elements of core cozy games like managing your homestead, gathering materials, tending to animals, talking to villagers, fishing, and, of course, customizing your character's appearance whenever you want. But the added ability to find resources in dungeons and move through them, progressing from one floor to the next, is a unique element that begs co-op play. Speaking with Akshay Balakrishnan (Senior Programmer), Dorian Pareis (Audio Director), Cris Velasco (Composer), and Dan Poole (Senior Voice Designer), it's clear that cooperative play and growth are key factors in the Fae Farm experience and that's what was brought into the development process. Over the course of this 20-minute interview, we hear about the development process and how it took place across different departments of the Pheonix Labs teams. 

Hans Vogel is Dead began as a webcomic nearly a decade ago, written and illustrated by Sierra Barnes. Now publishing its first of three volumes with Dark Horse, But Why Tho met Barnes at her studio to hear about the series, its origins, Barnes' influences, comic lettering, and what makes the series special.

Final Fantasy XVI, the latest addition to the storied Square Enix franchise, is a large and beautiful world with complex and dynamic characters. At PAX West 2023, we sat down with Localization Director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, and some of the voices behind beloved characters, including Clive Rosfield (Ben Starr), Margrace (Jonathan Case), and Benedikta Harman (Nina Yndis) to discuss what it's like joining the legacy of such a special franchise, the skill involved with voice acting, and how the unique way that Final Fantasy XVI's localization allowed the game's actors the freedom to explore and create the characters alongside the localization team. 

This week, Alex, Jason, and Kate talk about time - and more importantly how we just don't have any of it anymore. With longer games coming out like Baldur's Gate 3, a stacked movie season, and more on the horizon, how does anyone find the time to play and watch, well, everything they're interested in?

We were honored to chat with the voices that have skillfully brought some of the most iconic characters in anime to life in the English dub. Their work and dedication to this series have significantly shaped its charm, growth, and adventurous spirit. We dive into all that in this exclusive video featuring Colleen Clickenbeard, the voice of Monkey D. Luffy, Luci Christian, who voices Nami; Sonny Strait, the voice of Ussop; and Eric Vale, the voice of Sanji.

After 9 years, HexWorks is creating Lords of the Fallen, a sequel/reboot to the 2014 title of the same name. The original was one of the earliest games that attempted to put its own spin on the action RPG genre. After nearly a decade of innovation and mainstream success, the latest genre entry is attempting to capitalize on these lessons and invite newcomers to yet another grand adventure.  We spoke with Cezar Virtosu, the Creative Director at HexWorks, and Saul Gascon, Head of Studio and Executive Producer for Lords of the Fallen, about how they create beautiful new environments, what they needed to change from the original game, and why the parrying feels so good.